A practical manual for CMOs and marketing leaders

by: Muiz Thomas | Founder of GrowUp

Over the past few months, I've seen even the most sophisticated marketing teams get caught flat-footed: their prospects are typing questions into ChatGPT instead of Google, and half the time, their brand doesn’t come up at all. Not because their SEO is bad, it’s often excellent, but because the playing field has been redrawn and nobody sent a memo.

This guide breaks down how ******to transform your existing SEO and content strategy into AI-visible, citation-worthy authority across search and decision journeys.

📌 TL;DR: What This Guide Covers

Phase Core Objective Success Metrics
1. Strategic Assessment Understand your AI blind spots Clear gap analysis and action priorities
2. Category Entry Points Map buyer triggers your competitors miss 15+ validated buyer triggers informing content strategy
3. Cross-Channel Consistency Coherent brand story across all touchpoints 90%+ message consistency, fewer mixed signals
4. Content Ecosystem & Query Fan-Out Build a content network that answers the full range of buyer questions 50%+ lift in AI citation rates and content coverage
5. Authority Signals Earn trust outside your own site Third-party validation AI systems trust
6. Performance Management Track what drives AI-influenced pipeline ROI visibility into new acquisition channels
7. Risk Management & Brand Protection Prevent and correct AI misrepresentation Documented response protocols, zero brand crises escalated

Resource Requirement: Senior strategic lead + 15-25% of digital budget + cross-team coordination.

Phase 1: Strategic Foundation & Assessment

A) Brand Perception Audit

You might think you know how your brand shows up: your team gets it, your customers get it, even your competitors probably get it. But AI models could be describing you in ways that would make your entire team cringe.

What to do: Run regular brand perception checks. And I mean regularly, models update constantly, and what looks good today could drift within weeks.

Platform Test Query Set Frequency Owner
ChatGPT Standard 5-query set Monthly SEO Lead
Claude Standard 5-query set Monthly SEO Lead
Gemini Standard 5-query set Monthly SEO Lead
Perplexity Standard 5-query set Monthly SEO Lead

Standard query set:

  1. “What is [Brand Name]?”
  2. “Who is [Brand Name] for?”
  3. “What does [Brand Name] help with?”
  4. “What features does [Brand Name] have?”
  5. “Who are [Brand Name]’s competitors?”